1. The project organization in the network-centric logic Passage from Some Essays About Management essay 5

2. What if well try to organize the project in the networked logic?

3. Then all informational, communicational and eventual flows are to be ordered in the appropriate networked logic of functioning and interaction

4. This order can be provided at the expense of the organization of the project in the networked logic

5. When everybody communicates one with another

6. When all joint efforts are concentrated in one

7. When everybody moves by the Rules of play shared by and divided for all

8. Lets try to define in what way the project is organized in the network-centric logic

9. What is the project like in its early beginning on the phase of initiation?

10. We consider that it can be described by three levels where all real and potential participants of the project are included

11. Level 1. The first level includes companies, managing the complex project, and the project key participants a customer, an initiator, a project sponsor and an investor

12. Level 2. The second one describing physical performance of the project includes companies taking part directly in execution of separate stages of the whole work

13. Level 3. The third level includes stakeholders who dont usually take active part in the project moving, but are able to influence the project, its separate participants or interconnections between them

14. Project realization covers the chain of participants from the first and the second levels where they are frequently black boxes for us

15. Unsealing of such black boxes is provided by certain resources, and at last we are to get certain result which is important for the project development

16. Concerning stakeholders, thats much more interest arising they can influence any black box as it is, and any connection between them

17. And thats only the beginning of the project Its really very complicated to convert it into the network-centric organization in the literal sense of the word without some kind of even nearly referencing algorithm

18. So, what will we begin with?

19. For the first step, lets invent the networked mechanism to manage our project create the team for project management consisting of coordinators by separate managerial functions, branches and stages of the work

20. Then, secondly lets unseal the black boxes of a customer, an investor, a sponsor of the project etc., bring it to the notice of a defined amount of specialists and managers with all their interconnections, responsibility zones, and interests in the project

21. The most effective tool for that is face-to-face meeting held with each separate black box

22. In result, well define collective and individual objectives of participation in the project as well as the set of independent knots and their actors, realize the needs of all actors, keep all data about their privileges and opportunities, and get the list of as more contacts as possible

23. The third step lets us unseal each of participants who performs the project directly, using the same tools and the same objectives like on the second step

24. When moving the first and the second steps, its important to remember that its not necessary to tell participants that we create in such a way the networked structure, just to organize all interconnections in this logic

25. After all these three steps have been completed, we get access to all uncovered elements inside the former black boxes

26. And now all our nearest surrounding by the project represents for us the platform with accessible elements, situated not under, being ordered in the strong hierarchical logic, but all around us

27. The forth step is initiation of the strategy of interaction with stakeholders black boxes

28. What differs stakeholders from the other project participants? It easily may turn out that they dont strive for the project final objective achievement or even hamper that. Being unsealed, they may get more reasons and tools for counteraction

29. What to do? But just to refuse to split evidently dangerous, potentially dangerous and neutral stakeholders up and take them in future as an indivisible knot with a defined actor

30. After the forth step is finished, we get the principal ground for the following construction of the project networked architecture on that surface we can observe the amount of real participants and stakeholders with all their internal knots and actors

31. The fifth step elaboration, arrangement, fixation and acceptance about the Rules of play by participants

32. Its very important that creation of Rules of play of full value is the result of great number of negotiations and arrangements by project which serve to initiate the principles of interaction, mutual constraints, other standards, which can be useful for us in project networked architecture forming

33. As interim result the tool, accepted and used by all participants for horizontal communication initiation In every single moment any participant of the project knows what rules the project communication is based on

34. On the sixth step we increase intensity of horizontal communication between all participants of the project that provides information flow as wide as possible This process is permanent and iterative

35. What is the most necessary for that? 1. Analyze the accumulated information about structures of companies-participants and stakeholders 2. Find out the maximal amount of original communication flows necessary for the project 3. Arrange horizontal communication links where they are absent

36. As interim result the communication ground for the project is created This ground is one of the most important for the project networked organization, because it is to be turned into the foundation for the project networked architecture

37. The seventh step functional knots creation They enable some separate managerial functions, like quality, risk, supply management or separate tasks and branches inside the project

38. The tool for functional knots creating is the functional knot architect who is regarded in the project managing team as a coordinator of all managerial functions and branches

39. The result attained in our surface of natural knots, located and connected one with another, including numerous objects related diversely with other objects, there is the new artificial element functional knots

40. Functional knots, coupled with communication channels, are unlikely to be kept on or presented on this surface when they are created, the project starts uncovering and adopts more and more information

41. We reached the point when our principal surface turned into the voluminous system and it remains only to complete the project up to the end via strengthening this system by means of the appropriate environment

42. The eighth step network coordination mechanisms initiation

43. Tools for the coordination mechanism initiation are: coordination councils integration councils other forms of project participants personal meetings

44. Since that moment the project starts functioning in the networked logic By that, the coordination mechanism initiates and, at the same time, maintains the required environment for the project

45. The ninth step to provide the network-centric organization with backbone technical infrastructure an IT-platform which would resolve the problem of project management process simplification, as if in the networked organization

46. Such infrastructure is an indispensable part of the coordination mechanism of the network-centric organization and, besides that, the future environment for project participants interaction

47. The tenth step to embed the tools for development of the network-centric organization participants in all working operations

48. Such tools may include: organizational business games training by accompanying actions meetings of different level with public results master classes seminars

49. And whats finally?

50. Lets try to evaluate together the given result

51. What happened with our project after wed begun to change and organize it in the network-centric logic?

52. Weve imparted to daily phenomena, relations and expressions new sense and filling

53. There is no change in the project objective, the project itself and its participants, the reality remains the same but what has changed is our attitude

54. We get able to see or, at least, to treat these relations and interactions of people in this new networked logic

55. Actually weve been portraying and creating the network-centric organization in our mind

56. Having opportunity, weve got the ability to arrange relations, to communicate, to move, as if we were surrounded by a certain network

57. By such approach we are able to increase manageability and to do a project more effective, more predictable, and prepare very powerful pretext for the future it means, to get a proto-network in fact, which can be successfully used for private profit after the project completion

58. Thanks for your attention! P.S. You got to know the passage of our book Some Essays About Management The book is available in whole on the page Vision of our site www.kommandcore.com

59. Lively management of projects